Louis-Antoine, Duke of Angouleme
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Louis XIX, King of France and of Navarre (formerly Louis-Antoine, duc d'Angoulême) (August 6, 1775 – June 3, 1844) was the eldest son of the comte d'Artois (later King Charles X of France) and Marie-Thérèse de Savoie. He was the last Dauphin of France. His maternal grandparents were Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and Maria Antonietta of Bourbon. She was the youngest daughter of Philip V of Spain and Elizabeth Farnese.
He and his younger brother Charles Ferdinand, duc de Berry, were educated in a chateau a few miles from Versailles. On the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 the two young princes followed their father into exile in Turin, Italy, then to Germany and finally England. In 1792, d'Angoulême joined the emigre army of his cousin, the Prince de Condé.
In June 1795 his uncle was proclaimed King Louis XVIII, and later that year the 20-year old d'Angoulême led an attempted Royalist uprising in the Vendée, which ended in failure. In early 1797 he joined his brother and uncle in the German Duchy of Brunswick hoping to join the Austrian Army. Unfortunately the defeat of Austria by France obliged them to flee, and they took refuge in Mitau, Courland under the protection of Tsar Paul I of Russia. There in June 1799 he married his cousin Princess Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte, Madame Royale (1778–1851), daughter of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, who had been living at the Austrian court since her release from the Temple prison. They appeared to be happy, but had no children. In April 1800, d'Angoulême took command of a regiment of cavalry in the Bavarian Army and took part in the battle of Hohenlinden against the French, showing some ability.
In early 1801 Tsar Peter made peace with Bonaparte, and the French court in exile fled to Warsaw, then controlled by Prussia. For the next ten years, d'Angoulême accompanied and advised his uncle the King. They returned to Russia when Alexander became Tsar, but in mid-1807 the treaty between Bonaparte and Alexander forced them to take refuge in England. There, at Hartwell, King Louis reconstituted his court, and d'Angoulême was granted an allowance of £300 a month. Twice (in 1807 and 1813) he attempted to return to Russia to join the fight against Bonaparte, but was refused permission by the Tsar. He remained in England until 1814 when he sailed to Bordeaux, which had declared for the King, his entry of the town on 12 March 1814 being regarded as the beginning of the Bourbon restoration. From there d'Angoulême fought alongside Wellington to restore his cousin Ferdinand VII to the throne of Spain.
During the "Hundred Days", as chief of the royalist army in the southern Rhône River valley, d'Angoulême was unable to prevent Napoleon's return to Paris, and was again forced to flee to England, until the final defeat of Bonaparte at Waterloo. After the second restoration of Louis XVIII, he served Louis loyally until the King's death in 1824, when d'Angoulême became Dauphin - the heir-apparent to the throne, under his father, now King Charles X.
As Dauphin he supported his fathers policy of ridding France of her recent revolutionary and imperial past, expelling former imperial officers from the Army, and commanding a French military expedition - the "Hundred Thousand Sons of St. Louis" - that helped quell an anti-Bourbon revolt in Spain (1823).
Finally in 1830 in the July Revolution the people, angered and frustrated by Charles repressive policies demanded his abdication, and that of his descendants, in favour of Louis-Philippe, and sent a delegation to the Tuileries Palace to ensure his compliance.
When Charles reluctantly signed the document of abdication on August 2, 1830, Louis-Antoine and his wife became the King and Queen of France. It is said that the now King Louis XIX spent the next twenty minutes listening to the entreaties of his wife not to sign, while the former Charles X sat weeping. Eventually he too abdicated in favour of his nephew, making history as the shortest-ever reigning King of France. For the final time he left for exile, where he was known as the "Comte de Marnes". He never returned to France again.
However, some legitimists did not recognize the abdications as valid, and recognized Charles X as King until his death in 1836, with Louis XIX succeeding him thereafter. Louis-Antoine died in Görz, Austria in 1844, aged 69. Upon his death his nephew the Comte de Chambord, also known as the duc de Bordeaux, became head of the royal family of France in exile.
| House of Bourbon Cadet Branch of the House of Capet Born: 6 August 1775; Died: 3 June 1844 |
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| Regnal Titles | ||
| Preceded by: Charles X |
King of France 1830 |
Succeeded by: Louis Philippe as King of the French |
| Titles in pretence | ||
| Preceded by: Charles X |
* NOT REIGNING * King of France Legitimist claimant (1836–1844) |
Succeeded by: Henry V |
